Iyla's Walking!!!

There are so many fun things going on at our house. Iyla started walking the past few days and is really taking off! We are so excited.

The video is dark but you can still see what is going on. I swear I had all of the lights on but I guess my camara is just not that great without a flash. Click here to see the video. I will try to put it on the blog if it ever finishes prosessing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHBAlf7ZI10

Iyla is also starting to learn how to feed herself. She has discovered the wonders of spaghetti. I forgot how much mess a toddler can make eating! Yes I said it... toddler. Iyla is growing by leaps and bounds. I can hardly keep up with her!! But I am loving every minute of it!! I am so lucky to have such a great little girl!!

Family Reunion Pictures

The Gifford Family Reunion Part 2



This is the "official" sign for our campsite





Jacob's sister, Sunshine holding Iyla. Sunshine planned the whole reunion. She did an amazing job!



I found the best invention at Target. It is a fabric traveling highchair. If fits over most chairs and keeps the babies really secure. Iyla loved it so I thought I would post a few pictures of Iyla using it at Jacob's parents house.




This is a picute of Iyla hanging out at the Draper Temple grounds.


The weekend before the re-union our family had a union!! Jacob's sister, Angel and her family were sealed in the Draper Temple. It was a lovely day.




Some Pictures of the Draper Temple







This is my Niece Kylee, Angel's daughter. She looked so sweet in her temple dress.






This is Angel and her forever husband Brad. They are an amazing couple!


The campground sign from the highway. Monte Cristo here we come!!




This was the view from our tent. Not to shabby!!!


This is everyone, except Jacob's parents. They got cut out. oops! OK here is the run down...
Orange is Amber and her family, Red is Gray's family, Light green is Noel's family,Dark Blue is Sunshine's family, dark Green is Angel's family, royal blue is Mindy's family, Pink is our family, and stone blue and gray is Joanna's family.



This is a picture of Isabella and her cousin Eli. Eli is 4 and is Mindy's son. The two of them got along great. The played "married" and went around calling each other 'honey'. It was really cute.



Our campsite. This is the screen house that Iyla kept escaping from. she just pushed her head on the bottom and wiggled her way out. She thought is was terribly funny. I thought it was just plain scary!!



One day for lunch we made fire pit pizza. It was lots of fun. They tasted really good too.





When the Reunion was all over we went to a play that one of my dear friends was in. Her name is Brooke Grant. She was a missionary here around the time I met Jacob. I spent a lot of time on exchanges with her. If it had not been for meeting Jacob I was about ready to go on a mission myself. Brooke stared as Annie Oakley in Annie Get your Gun. What was really cute was her husband, Chase, played the male lead Frank Butler. The girls LOVED the play. Iyla even watched about half of it. Bella told me she wanted to be a dancing girl when she grew up! After the show we went and talked with Brooke. I got my picture taken with her. I was really not wanting my picture because I was REALLY sunburned and my face was kinda swollen from all of the mosquito bites I got. I promise I really don't look this bad. ( I think it is very brave of me to post this picture!!)




While we were driving home we stayed the night in Twin falls right by the Temple that was built last year. We just had to take a picture of it. It was really nice.




This picture was taken right before Isabella got car sick!! At least I have proof she had fun on the trip!! Ask her and she will tell you it was not fun and all about the getting sick part!

We had a blast but it is sure good to be home!!

The Gifford Family Reunion

These past few weeks we have been in Utah for the Gifford Family Reunion. So much stuff happened I really don't know where to begin. The 1st week was devoted to getting the girls to bond with their grandparents. It took a little doing especially with Iyla but in the end they loved it.
Iyla and Grandpa





Iyla and Grammie



Jacob and I were able to take a day and go to the Salt Lake Temple. It was by far the most beautiful building I have ever been in. If you ever have the chance to go I strongly suggest you do so. We made it a day by taking the "Front Runner" the commuter train that runs from northern Salt Lake valley into Salt Lake City. We had lunch at the Lion House. It is a restaurant that resides in the family home of the 2nd president of the church, Brigham Young. They serve simple , yummy food. The kind your grandma would make. It was really good. The room we ate in had these gorgeous quilts in frames. It would have been a really relaxing lunch except for the HUGE group of young women in the tables next to us. the had just gotten done with a baptism session at the temple.

We also were able to witness Jacob's sister Angel and her family get sealed in the Draper Temple. That was a thrill.

I have to apologise because my mouse it slowly breaking and making it impossible to add anymore pictures. But trust me, they were a sweet family!

The second week we went camping for the reunion. We camped 2 miles up and for this coast dweller, it was very hard for me to get just about anything done. Just tying my shoes got me out of breath. I ended up getting attitude sickness. Not too fun but I still had a good time.

The girls really liked camping. Bella loved being outside ALL the time. She got plenty of sunshine. We all did. With all of my sun blocking we all got sunburned... even the baby. But not to worry, we are all healing up nicely.

I promise I will post more picture when I get a new mouse. Jacob too over 400 pictures of the trip.

On this trip we learned a lot about our family. Here are some of the highlights

• Isabella gets carsick (but cleaning up after that in the middle of nowhere in Idaho with cars flying by at 80 mph is a hair raising experience!)
• I can take a 45 min shower when in a hotel room!
• Jacob is more like his father the he wants to be
• Iyla is quite the escape artist. She can crawl under the edge of the screen house, and make a break for it getting about 25 feet before we realised she was gone!!!
• I am horrible at Skip-Bo
• Isabella likes to dip her apple slices in ranch dressing. She is more like her father every day!
• Iyla should be hired out to help people baby proof their homes. She can show you EVERYTHING that needs moving in 5 mins or less.
• I do not have a career in mountain climbing!
• Hot tang is not as popular as I thought it would be.
• Iyla really does like her bottles warm!!
• Isabella won't eat anything with a smoke taste to it. Thank goodness for propane stoves or else she would have starved!
• Jacob need to work on his mind reading skills. He was never around when I needed him!!

All in all we had a blast. I hope to get some picture up soon.